Combined scraper and brush cleaning tool



Aug. 27, 1968 J. A. CARLOS COMBINED SCRAPER AND BRUSH CLEANING TOOL Filed Nov. 10, 1966 INVENTOR.

J j4 44 M 4/ JZ7776J ,7. 547/454 BY E- j '4i? United States Patent 3,398,419 COMBINED SCRAPER AND BRUSH CLEAYING TOOL James A. Carlos, 5801 Streefkerk, Apt. D27, Warren, Mich. 48092 Filed Nov. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 593,551 Claims. (Cl. -111) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cleaning tool particularly adapted for use in cleaning T-shaped guideways of a machine tool consisting of a two piece handle portion defining a T-shaped cleaning element at one end and an opening at the other end for detachably receiving a brush.

This invention relates to a cleaning tool and more particularly to a cleaning tool that may be employed to clean T slots located, for example, in the guideways of a machine tool and for brushing out these T-shaped slots or the adjacent work table positioned near the machine tool.

In the invention, the cleaning tool is preferably constructed of sheet metal and comprises a tubular handle portion having a transversely extending cleaner or scoop at one end thereof that forms with the handle a T-shaped element that is suitable for insertion in a T-shaped guideway of a machine tool. The transverse element may be in the form of a scoop having a semicylindrical shape with closed end portions. The other end of the tool is provided with an enlarged head with spaced-apart side walls forming a socket that receives a brush that may be used to brush the T-shaped slots in the machine tool, an adjacent work table or other surfaces.

The spaced side walls forming the socket that receives the brush have indented protuberances positioned therein for engaging a supporting metal member for the brush fibers, so that the brush with its supporting metal member may be positioned between the two side walls with the protuberances preventing any accidental or unwanted disengagement of the brush from the end of the tool. The two sheet metal members that form the cleaning tool are preferably channel-shaped in cross section, and one of the members has a tongue positioned at one end of the part thereof that forms the portion of the handle for insertion into a slot in the other member. This slot is positioned adjacent the scoop that, as previously described, is formed on the other one of the sheet metal members. A screw is used to afiix the other end of the sheet metal members in engagement with one another to thereby form a completed tool.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a cleaning tool that may be suitably employed for cleaning T slots in machine tools or other apparatus.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a cleaning tool that may be used to clean T slots in a machine tool or other apparatus that has a transverse cleaning element or scoop positioned at one end thereof and a removable brush positioned at the other end thereof.

Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention may be more readily realized as the specification is considered in connection with the attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the cleaning tool of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a back elevation of the cleaning tool of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 44 of FIG. 1.

3,3 98,4 1 9 Patented Aug. 27, 1968 Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views thereof, there is shown in FIG. 1 a cleaning tool 10 of the present invention that has a handle 11 centrally located between a transversely extending scoop 12 and an enlarged socket 14 for receiving a brush 16.

The handle 11 and the enlarged socket 14 are formed of a pair of mating sheet metal members 18 and 24 that are generally channel shaped in cross section. One of the sheet metal members 18 has a transversely extending cleaning means preferably in the form of a scoop 12 formed integrally therewith and has a slot 20 positioned adjacent this scoop for the reception of an integrally formed tongue 22 positioned on the other sheet metal member 24. The tongue 22 includes an integrally formed section 25 positioned at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the brush and another section 26 positioned substantially parallel thereto so that the tongue 22 locks the two members 18 and 24 together at the end of the tool adjacent the scoop 12.

The other end of the tool as previously stated has an enlarged socket 14 that is formed by enlarged sections 30 and 32 in the sheet metal members 18 and 24, respectively, with each of these enlarged portions being substantially channel shaped in cross section so that when they are joined, the socket 14 is formed. The enlarged portion 30 has a transversely inwardly extending protuberance 34 positioned therein when viewed from the inside of the tool, and, similarly, the enlarged section 32 of the member 24 has a pair of inwardly extending protuberances 36 and 38 positioned therein that are spaced transversely outwardly from the protuberance 34.

The enlarged socket 14 is adapted to receive the brush 16 that is comprised of a plurality of parallel extending fibers 42 that are aflixed together by means of 'a metal retainer 44 that is generally U-shaped in section and that is crimped over the fibers to firmly secure them in the parallel extending arrangement. The U-shaped metal retainer 44 has a base 45 that is slightly wider in dimension than the distance between the protuberances 34 and the two protuberances 36 and 38 on the sheet metal members 18 and 24, respectively, when these two members are fastened together by a suitable fastening means. This fastening means may take the form of a machine screw 48 having a head 50 positioned in a depression 52 in the member 24 and a nut 54 that may be suitably afiixed to the inner surface of the member 18.

The scoop 12 is generally semicylindrical in shape and it has a pair of end walls 50 and 52 enclosing the ends of the scoop 12 to provide a means for holding metal shavings, metal chips or waste products in the form of metallic particles that may have been machined from a workpiece operated upon or shaped by a machine tool.

In assembling the cleaning tool of the present invention, the tongue 22 :formed on the member 24 may first be suitably inserted in the slot 20 of the member 18, and then the brush 16 may be positioned in place so that the metal retainer 44 is positioned inwardly of the inwardly extending protuberances 34, 36 and 38 positioned in the members 18 and 24 of which the tool is composed. The fastening means in the form of the screw 48 and the nut 54 may then be employed to fasten the two sheet metal members 18 and 24 together so that the brush 16 is retained within the socket 33 by the inwardly extending protuberances 34, 36 and 38.

It can readily be appreciated that the brush 16 is removably held within the socket 14, and that it may be removed and replaced, if necessary, by loosening the fastening means including the screw 48 so that the two body portions 18 and 24 may be pivoted about the tongue 22 and slot 20 to thereby separate the inwardly extending protuberances 34, 36 and 38 to an extent suf- 3 :ficient to permit the brush 16 to be axially pulled from the socket 1 4. Thereafter, another brush 16 may be inserted in the socket 14 and the fastening means in the form of a screw 48 suitably tightened down so that a new brush is suitably affixed within the socket 14.

It can be readily appreciated that in the use of the present invention, the handle portion 11 may be gripped and the scoop 12 together with a portion of the handle inserted in a T-shaped slot in a machine tool so that the scoop 12 'will pick up and retain metal scraps in the form of metal particles or shavings that may have become trapped in a T-shaped slot in a machine tool. The brush 16 may also be used to brush out this T-shaped slot by inserting it through the narrow portion of the slot and brushing the bottom portion thereof. The brush may also be used to brush off the other portions of the machine tool or the adjacent work bench that may be positioned near the machine tool and used by the operator for his convenience.

While the forms of the invention described above constituted preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise forms and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning tool for cleaning out T-slots and the like comprising a handle portion, said handle portion being comprised of first and second elongated generally channel-shaped members, the first of said members defining a T-shaped cleaning element at one end of said handle portion adapted to be inserted into a T-shaped slot for removing foreign material therefrom, said first member and said second member defining an opening at the other end of said handle portion, a brush having a base portion received in said opening and a bristled portion extending from said base portion away from said opening, and fastening means for affixing said handle portion members together and for affixing said brush within said opening.

2. The combination as set forth in claim .1 wherein the fastening means includes a slot formed in one of the members adjacent the one end of the handle portion and a tongue formed on the other of the members, said tongue extending through said slot for joining said members at said one end of said handle portion.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which the other ends of each of said members are joined by a screw and nut fastening means.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which said opening is defined by opposed side walls of said members, one of said side walls having a protuberance positioned on an inner wall thereof that extends generally transversely to the handle portion, said base of said brush having substantially the same width and thickness as said opening, said base being positioned between said protuberance and said handle portion, said protuberance being engageable with said base of said brush to prevent said base and said brush from being removed from said opening.

5. The combination of claim 4 in which the other of said side walls also has an inwardly extending protuberance positioned therein engageable with the base of said brush.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 688,160 12/1901 Clarke 1 l51ll X 1,434,744 11/1922, Hibbler.

2,846,706 8/1958 Royall l5l45 2,893,034 7/1959 Jones l5146 FOREIGN PATENTS 291,312 5/1928 Great Britain. 332,171 7/1930 Great Britain,

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Acting Primary Examiner.

LEON G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner. 

